Meet Karuna and her Bajai

Reuniting families makes us proud.

Karuna’s mother remarried after her husband disappeared and Karuna was left with her grandmother. In desperation Karuna’s grandmother admitted her sweet 9 year-old grandchild into an orphanage in Lalitpur believing the child would be much better cared for.

Thankfully the Nepal Government shut down ‘Friendship Nepal Orphanage’ in July 2017 and Karuna was one of 14 children rescued from despair and exploitation.

Karuna was 14 years old when she was finally rescued and reunified with her grandmother. Things didn’t go entirely to plan and she ran away back to Kathmandu. Her grandmother let us know immediately and we collected Karuna from the bus station, bringing her to our transit home Shakti Ghar for counseling and assessment.

For two weeks Karuna was given the space and support to make some decisions about her future and family life. Years of separation and orphanage life had taken its toll on this troubled teenager. She felt overwhelmed by the love and care she was experiencing from her family and village.

Despite family life adjustment challenges, Karuna is a shining example of the adage: love conquers all.

The team sees the devastating harms institutionalisation has on children and this is why we are working so hard to end the orphanage era and get kids home to family as soon as possible.

You can help by sharing stories to help get the message out to family and friends that visiting or donating to orphanages means operators need more orphans to keep up with demand.